Sunday, March 02, 2008

Lauren and her mom were sitting on the couch under a window in the den. Wyatt was playing quietly on the floor and he looked up towards Mommom and the sun light, shining through the window, caught his eyes just right and it caused him to sneeze. He then looked up again and sneezed again.

Lauren's mom said something like "I hope he is not getting a cold."

"He is all right." I said "It was probably the sun that caused the sneeze."

She looked at me like I was a little off. "The sun?"

"Yeah. You know how when you walk out into the sun and it catches you just right it causes you to sneeze?"

She just looked at me.

I explained again.

She just just stared at me like I was nuts. "I have never heard of that." she said

I thought she was nuts. I thought the sun caused everyone to sneeze. I know it causes me to sneeze, it causes Max to sneeze and I guess it makes Wyatt sneeze.

Lauren spoke up at this point and called it photic sneeze reflex. Her mom never heard of it. I never heard of the phrase but I knew what it was.

All 3 of my kids do it (every time we leave a building and it's sunny, someone is sneezing), and if I need to sneeze and can't, I usually can force it by looking at a light. Never heard the term before though. Like you, I just thought everyone dealt with it. Didn't realize how abnormal we are :)

I do it too! I used to say I was "allergic" to the sunlight, because every time I was out in the sun, I sneezed! I had no idea it was a real honest to goodness "thing"! Wow! And a rare one at that. I think my kids do it too. Now I'm going to have to ask and see.

Like Jasmin, I can almost always force a sneeze by looking into the light.

You mean that doesn't happen to everyone? No wonder people look at me funny when they say they have to sneeze and I say "Look into the light". Thanks for making it official. I am abnormal. As if the red hair and double jointedness weren't enough to convince people.

I too have heard of it. I had a buddy on my last submarine that sneezed every time he walked from shade to sun. This post reminds me of a conversation we once had on the boat about something called objective tinnitus. It's pretty crazy when you realize what that is. But you wouldn't believe me if I told you, so you'll have to look it up...isn't it nice to know you're not normal?

omg. i am so stoked to have found you! (via tina mamacita+link)i completely have the photic sneeze - and my husband always thought i was nuts til the recent VERY OBVIOUS discovery that i have passed this extra special gene on to our 2yo son. because i only passed the best traits down to him. heh.

ohyes, i am also from PA! grew up in northwestern pa but born in and mom lives in ambler - are you back in that area?

I totally have this, although I wasn't sure I knew that's what it was called. I also know that its genetic/hereditary. So if people don't know - it probably doesn't run in their family. I have it, but so far i don't think I've passed it on to my kids. Jury still out though.

The sun's always made me sneeze if it hits me just right...makes my Uncle sneeze too. We're the only 2 people I know of that this happens to. I had no idea there was a name for it!! My mom and I were just talking about it the other day actually...

I too have tinnitus. It's like living next to the ocean without having to pay the high costs. Sometimes it feels like I am working at a power plant though. It gets to the point where I want to throw up.

I never knew there was a proper term for it, but I always thought the sun made everyone sneeze too. It makes me sneeze and my mom and brother, but now that you mention it, I'm not so sure about my kids or hubby...no matter though..they all think I'm abnormal anyway. :)Stacie

I thought you were nuts when you were talking about the Sun making him sneeze! LOL NEVER heard of it. I know my husband sometimes tells our kids to look at lights if they are trying to sneeze but can't. I always thought that was silly too and it never works for them, so they ignore their Dad now:)

Ok hang on. I just skimmed over these comments and it seems you freaky "sun sneezers" are more common than us people who just sneeze because we have to sneeze.

Seriously, when I was first reading this and you said that was why Wyatt sneezed, I was totally stumped. Like WTH does sneezing and sun have to do with each other?? I just asked my kids if they do it (thought maybe they did and I didn't notice it) and they just looked at me like *I* am nuts! LOL

The sun makes me sneeze too... I guess I never thought about if other people sneezed at looking at the sun....I just thought it was a normal thing.....of course I've never been one to do normal things.... LOL

This is funny, because Dad always said that the sun, or a bright light, could make someone sneeze. He was particularly familiar with it as a pilot. When he came up through a cloud bank and out into the sun, he would sneeze. He said it was common among pilots, although I guess it's only 18-35 percent of pilots. Still, something to think about next time you fly...all of a sudden those sunglasses they wear don't look so dorky, do they?

Totally. This is absolutely a real thing. "Look at the light" is how I learned to get a sneeze out. This is awesome!I had a boyfriend once who thought he was allergic to the morning because he sneezed every time he woke up and started moving around the house. In the light. Makes perfect sense!

If I need to sneeze and it's just hovering there, not quite out, I always look at the light. I don't think I could force it if I didn't have an initial urge to sneeze. Otherwise I probably would, 7 times (I always heard a sneeze is 1/7 of an orgasm).

I've heard of this. Not the phrase, but the fact that looking at the sun will make a person sneeze. I've also heard it's just looking up, in general, that will bring on a sneeze. But not an orgasm, sadly.

I have never heard of this before and haven't noticed this behavior in myself or any of my family. But I won't knock it, because, as a previous poster mentioned, it sounds like Restless Leg Syndrome. I'm telling you - that is real and it's ANNOYING!

Guess that makes me abby-normal. Really cold air in my face takes my breath away, too. My mom tells me that she thought it was strange how, as a small child, I would gasp whenever I went outside in the Wisconsin winters.

On the flip side of that coin. My MIL and FIL constantly tell my kids to put socks on to get warm and not get sick. They also used to freak out when the kids went outside with wet hair (cuz they would get sick). I finally to fed up with that crap and spent about a day on wet hair research and getting sick. FALSE. I also finally told them to keep from getting cold, PUT A HAT ON, not socks.

It’s funny. Over the weekend my husband stepped outside and got a case of the sun sneezes. After a couple of healthy ACHOO’s he turned to me and asked, “Why does the sun make you sneeze?” I had no idea. “Well why don’t you look that up on the net when you have some free time.”

So I had some free time. Might as well try to solve the mystery of the sun sneeze. Type sun sneeze in yahoo and this is the first site to pop up.

I have this syndrome too. I haven't met anyone else that has it. All of my friends have just thought I was crazy when I told them. I always said I'm a vampire or that I'm allergic to the sun. It happens like clock work every time I go into the sunlight I sneeze 2-3 times.

A day without a sneeze is a day without sunshine for me and others with "achooism." When I walk out into the sun, I'll usually sneeze only once, but it always feels great. In fact, sometimes when I'm indoors I'll go to a window in search of the sun. If I get the angle just right, I'll be rewarded with a big sneeze. Strange to some, but normal for my fellow photic sneezers.

My husband has this. I have had lots of fun over the years giggling at him as he let out a "sun sneeze". We realized just the other day that our toddler inherited this from her dad. As we left church on Easter Sunday, she let out a big sneeze and each time she looked up at the sky, another would follow. Funny to me because unless their is a lot of dust in the air, the sun has NEVER made me sneeze!